Learning a new language is always hard. Even though you might find a way to ace the grammar, everybody knows that vocabulary is really the one that makes the difference. The more words you know, the better you can communicate in Spanish, and the more you can immerse yourself in the language, and culture. This is why, today I have decided to teach you a new way of learning vocabulary: with flashcards.

It is said that you have to “meet” with a word 80 times in order to remember it, and never forget it. Just imagine how many different words you have just read. Now imagine just repeating them 80 times. It would be quite tiring. For this reason, flashcards are a great tool to use.

First of all, let me tell you what flashcards are. They are basically some pieces of paper which has a word on one side in one language, and then translated in a second language on the other side. They are practically a really compressed version of a dictionary that helps you learn words quickly.

Let’s say for example that today you want to learn some vocabulary related to fruits. You make a list of all the fruits that you want to learn, and then you start making flashcards for each fruit. Then, you start reading them a couple of times until you think that you have memorized them. After that, it is time to test yourself. You take out random cards from the deck, and try to say the fruit in the language on the back. If you are right, you take out the card. If not you repeat until there are no more cards.

You do not have to use this type of flashcards only for vocabulary. They are also a great tool for learning verbs. A great way that you can do so is to create a set of cards for each verb. On one side, you can write for example ser- presente de indicativo vosotros, and on the other, put the right answer. You can make it even more complicated by writing the verb, the verbal tense, and the person in English. It all depends on how you want to make them.

There are, of course, many other ways in which you can learn words by using flashcards. You can even learn a family of words. You can a word like ‘happy’ (alegre), and make various cards. For example, one can be happy-verb (alegrarse), happy-noun (alegría). The best part is that the options are limitless.

One more fun thing that you can do is to strategically place them around the objects in the cards. For example, if you are trying to learn words related to food, you can place them in the kitchen, or if you want to learn words related to clothes, you can put them next to your wardrobe. This way, it will be even easier for you to identify the word in the cards, and it will make learning new words more fun. All that you have left to do is to try it.